I love cookies and every year I look forward to baking holiday cookies to share with family and friends. The process for which cookies end up in my annual holiday platter starts..well, the day after Christmas. Throughout the year I keep an eye out for new cookie recipes to go along with my tried and true traditional shortbread and Jan Hagels that I make every year.
So of course I jumped at the chance to review a new book from Blogging for Books aptly titled Holiday Cookies by Elisabet Der Nederlanden. The collection is filled with classic, traditional cookies like Spritz cookies, green and red pinwheels and gingerbread. She does add a twist to many by varying the spices and flavors-eggnog madeleines, saffron biscotti or fig and cardamon rugelach which definitely add interest. I chose the Malted Milk Chocolate Cookies to try. It called to the kid in me and conjured up images of Malt-o-meal, Ovaltine and Whoppers. This is the only recipe I have tried so far and unfortunately the cookie was pretty nondescript. Neither the malt flavor or chocolate were stood out. The cookies did not spread or crack as much as the cookies pictured, perhaps too much flour on my part (weights people). I will try other cookies in the book hope I find one for my annual holiday assortment. l’ll update my review when I do. The recipes depend solely on volume measurements and not weights, bummers. I love cookbooks that contain both weight and volume measurements. I am a big fan of having a scale it is much more accurate and reliable.
The book starts with a section on how to pack cookies and decorate your cookies with a festive flair. Chapters are organized by classics, exchange cookies, spice and around the world. She also includes a chapter on candy and decorating. The recipes are organized with ingredients in the column on the left and directions on the right, very easy to follow. THE PHOTOS ARE GORGEOUS and the book is worth its weight in presentation ideas. Can’t wait to try a couple more recipes.
A Cautionary Tale with a Sweet Ending (Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies)
I can’t resist perusing the racks at airport bookstores. Even though I always carry an Ipad, book, or magazine, I still stop and browse. While waiting for my flight to Nashville I flipped through a copy of People Magazine that had an article with Stella Parks of Serious Eats. Her recently published book BraveTart, an homage to iconic American desserts, was already on my radar of course. The article included a recipe for Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies. They looked and sounded delicious. Trying to be as stealthy as possible I took out my phone and quickly snapped a shot of the recipe, mission accomplished I tucked my phone back in my pocket and left to catch my flight.
A bake sale to benefit a bird and butterfly sanctuary directly in the path of that ridiculous wall Trump wants to build was the perfect opportunity to make Park’s Honey Roasted PB Cookies. The recipe called for processing honey roasted peanuts for a minute until finely chopped. Uh-oh, I don’t think so, a minute in a food processor does not result in finely chopped nuts more like pulverized nuts. Quick, to my laptop to fire off a tweet to Stella Parks..please clarify. A couple of minutes later..yay, a response- “should be like flour, length of time variable depending on your processor”. First hurdle cleared. Surveying the recipe I noticed some of the ingredients had weights, some didn’t. Auugh! This started my rant to the hubster on the inconsistencies in the recipe.
Me yelling: Why would you put the weight for butter but not the flour? WTH! This is silly! And the finely chopped nuts, that wasn’t right! Wow, and she writes for Serious Eats?! Boy, this book has been getting a lot of press!
I continued to grumble. After making the dough I decided to look for the recipe online, lucky for me the page for her Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies is available on Google.
I ATE HUMBLE PIE
My rant was misplaced. The recipe in the book contained weights for every ingredient and the description for the peanuts was to grind them until they were fine, like flour.
So naturally, I did what anyone would do in this situation..I started to complain about People Magazine and how they messed up the recipe. The moral of the story, do not depend on a celebrity gossip magazine for a recipe. It also gave me an excuse to add BraveTart to my cookbook collection.
I still didn’t grind the peanuts enough which I believe changed the texture of the cookie…I was fixated on the finely chopped verbiage. The cookies did not spread like traditional cookies and ended up looking like little cracked hockey pucks. I’m guessing too much flour (no weights-grrrr) I was looking for a flat, classic-looking cookie, ironically, like the picture in People magazine.
I ended up smushing each cookie like old-fashioned PB cookies. I will definitely try these again but next time I will grind the nuts longer and weigh my flour and use the book, lol. They are YUMMY and besides, I still have half a jar of honey-roasted peanuts left! Below is the recipe from her book, BraveTart. You should get it, it’s that good.
Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies from BraveTart
Stella Park's Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies, just make them, you'll thank me
Course cookies, Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies, stella parks
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 16 minutesminutes
Ingredients
Dry Stuff (Flour Mixture)
1cupAP flour4.5 ounces USE Gold Medal flour
1-1/4cupshoney roasted peanuts6 ounces
Next Step: Butters + Leavening Agents
1-1/4cupscreamy peanut butter10 ounces
1stickunsalted butter4 ounces,soft rt cool (65 degrees use an instant thermometer)
1.5cupsgranulated sugar10 ounces
3/4tspkosher salt or half that amount if using regular table salt
3/4tspbaking soda
1/2tspbaking powder
Wet Stuff
2tspvanilla extract
1large eggstraight from fridge, well beaten
3Tbspmilk1.5 ounces
Instructions
Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Sift flour into bowl of a food processor (scoop and sweep method if not using a scale)
Add peanuts and pulse until fine (approximately 1 minute) almost like flour
Combine peanut butter, butter, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and vanilla* in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. I'm lazy, I add the vanilla to the milk and add it later.
Mix on low speed to moisten then increase to medium and beat until soft and light ab out 3 minutes
With mixer running add the egg in 2 additions, mixing untile ach is incorporated
Reduce speed to low and add peanut flour, followed by milk, mixing to form a very soft dough
Divide into 34-2 T (1.125 ounce) portions
Arrange on parchment lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart
Bake until the edges are firm and just beginning to brown but cookies are still puffy and steamy in the middle about 16 minutes
Cool on baking sheet until cookie is set about 10 minutes
Store in airtight container for up to 1 week at room temperature.
Showstopper When You InstantPotter Some Cauliflower Soup
Sorry if the title made you groan. But as the weather turns cooler and the days grows shorter all I can think about is soup. My perfect fall meal is a bowl of hearty soup, a chunk of warm crusty bread spread with sweet butter, a bottle of Chianti and some nice fava beans…just KIDDING, no Chianti or fava beans. I came across a recipe on Pressure Cooker Recipes for a cauliflower soup that #1-looked and sounded delicious and #2-can be made in a snap in an Instant Pot- WIN-WIN.
Pressure Cookr Recipes (not the most original title but spot on) is a great resource not just for recipes but for tips and info on how to use your pressure cooker. There are quite a few soup recipes but this one stood out since I really like cauliflower. For the soup I used red potatoes but any waxy potato will do such as white rose or Yukon Gold. If cauliflower doesn’t float your boat, I think broccoli would work well also. To lighten the soup you can use half and half or whole milk in place of heavy cream or decrease the amount of cream by half and add a bit more stock. A nice green salad, a baguette and a bowl of this soup…yep, living the good life.
Optional: freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
Place chopped bacon in your Pressure Cooker and turn heat to medium (Instant Pot: press Sauté button). Stir occasionally and allow the bacon bits to crisp (~4 mins). Remove bacon bits from pressure cooker and place on paper towel to absorb the excess fat.
Sauté onions in bacon fat for roughly 1– 2 minutes until soften. Add in garlic and half of the green onions. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and pepper if you like. Sauté until fragrant.
Deglaze: Pour ~ ⅓ cup (100 ml) chicken stock. Scrub all the brown bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Keep the brown bits as they are very flavorful.
Pressure Cook the Cauliflower Potato Soup: Add 2 bay leaves, cauliflower, and 2 red potatoes in the pressure cooker. Pour the remaining chicken stock into pressure cooker.
Close the lid and cook at High Pressure for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and use a 10 minutes Natural Release. Open the lid carefully.
Remove Bay Leaves. Blend cauliflower soup into desired consistency with an immersion hand blender. Add 1/2 -1 cup (250 ml) of heavy cream. Taste the soup and season with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of fish sauce and kosher salt.
Serve: Garnish with green onions, crispy bacon bits, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy immediately. I think you will love it 🙂
Notes
Thinner Consistency: If you like a thinner soup consistency, add hot homemade unsalted chicken stock to adjust the thickness of the soup.
Smaller Cauliflower Florets: break the larger pieces into smaller florets, so it'll be easier to blend.
Crispy Bacon: It's important to place the bacon in the cold pot before turning on the heat (see tips section in the article).
FALL Into One Pot Meals (Instant Pot Korean Beef Stew)
As summer winds down I head to the back of my closet to pull out my sweaters and jeans. I also start yearning for comfort foods like stews and hearty soups. Over the weekend we made the rounds to our favorite food marts. We find short ribs for a delicious hearty Korean stew called Khal Bi Jim and right next to the short ribs…oxtails!
Are you thinking what? Oxtails? Are they really swish, swish, in the back of the …yep, they are. Haven’t tried them? The meat is rich and flavorful. It has a bit more texture than short ribs and if you like chomping on bones, you’ll love oxtails. There is another reason to give this recipe a whirl…
INSTANT POT
I google oxtails, pressure cooker and the blog Korean Bapsang pops up with a recipe for Koriijim or braised oxtails. Bingo. Normally oxtails need quite a bit of time braising to get to the tender fall-off-the-bone stage (which is generally around 3 hours). This means starting pretty darn early in the day to have dinner on the table at a decent time. This time? Brown the oxtails, pour the marinade/sauce over the meat, top it with carrots, potatoes, and onions. Then, twist the lid on and set the cooking time to 45 MINUTES. Yep, not a typo-45 MINUTES. Whoa, less than half the time to cook this dish. WOOHOO.
The recipe calls for onions, mushrooms, and carrots. I like lots of vegetables so I added potatoes and extra carrots. I might even add squash or another root vegetable like parsnips next time. If you don’t have dried shiitakes you can use fresh mushrooms. The recipe calls for a Korean plum sauce, maesil cheong, a sweet-sour sauce often used as a sweetener. Not having any I used Chinese plum sauce, which may be totally off base but it’s what I have and it is sweet and a bit tart. You can skip it altogether and use sugar and honey, 1 tablespoon of each.
Classic Asian flavors-soy sauce, sesame, garlic, ginger, and onions in a hearty, down-home stew. Delicious. As the weather starts to cool try this dish. If you are really not thrilled with oxtails try this with bone-in short ribs cut into 2-3 inch pieces (ask your butcher) just as tasty. I love autumn.
1white potato cut into large chunksYukon Golds for a less starchy, russets for starchy
3 to 4dried shiitake mushroomsbriefly soaked and quartered (use fresh mushrooms if not available)
Braising liquid
1/2cupsoy sauce
1/2cuprice wineor mirin a sweet Japanese cooking wine
1/2medium Asian pearor 1 bosc pear or apple, grated
2tablespoonsminced garlic
1inchgingergrated (about 1 teaspoon)
3tablespoonshoneyor sugar
3tablespoonsmaesil cheongor 1 more tablespoon honey or sugar
pepper to taste
Garnishes
1tablespoonsesame oil
2scallionsroughly chopped (and some finely sliced for optional garnish)
sesame seeds-toasted
Instructions
Trim off excess fat. Rinse the oxtail pieces and let them sit in cold water for 10 to 20 minutes to draw out excess blood. Drain well, and pat dry with paper towels.
Press the “Saute” button on the Instant Pot. When the pot is hot, add 1 tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil. Sear the oxtail pieces in two batches, browning all sides. Or sear in separate pan and place in Instant Pot
Combine ingredients for braising liquid and pour the braising liquid over oxtails. Add the vegetables.
Close the lid tightly. Press the “Meat” function, and using the “+” button, increase the time to 45-48 minutes. 48 minutes for softer meat. When finished, the Instant Pot will automatically turn to the “Keep Warm” mode. Leave the pressure cooker alone for about 10 minutes before opening the lid.
Stir in the scallion and the sesame oil. Remove the meat and vegetables from the pressure cooker. Strain the cooking liquid into a bowl to skim off the fat. Pour sauce over the ribs.
Garnish with the optional scallions and sesame seeds. Serve with hot rice.
DI went to the city to grab a bite to eat with my kid Jeffrey and my Mom. Jeffrey suggested a joint that serves poached chicken and rice. Loves it, goes there all the time.
I said, you’re KIDDING, right? Not that I don’t like chicken but this sounds a whole lot like Chinese White Cut Chicken or Singaporean Hainan Chicken which I make ALL the TIME. Yep, same dish, but served in a hipster space with people willing to wait in line and pay gobs of money to have. REALLY?
Down-home comfort food made by grandma although you can get it at a hole-in-the-wall Asian restaurants or buy it at a Chinese deli to take home (usually hanging in the windows by the neck, lol). But to become the star of a menu and served in a cool space in the middle of Hipsterville? Who would have thought something as simple as poached chicken would become all the rage. Recently opened in the Marina, Rooster and Rice is my kid’s go-to place. Chicken, white rice (ok, you can probably get brown rice) and a dipping sauce. It comes with a bit of broccoli or cucumbers and if you want, a bowl of chicken soup. BUT that’s all. Sheesh.
Why didn’t I think of that?
My version of Chicken and Rice
I did a bit of sleuthing (hello Google) and concluded that ground zero for poached chicken rising to rock star status might have been Portland at Nong’s Khao Man Gai Food Truck. Nong P. got her start as a line chef at the popular Thai restaurant Pok Pok. She left to literally go on the road with a food truck serving her chicken and rice. It was wildly popular and she was able to open a brick and mortar place of the same name. Rooster and Rice also serves the Thai version. It’s dipping sauce is bean-based and is sweet, salty and spicy. Delicious. The dipping sauce for Hainan or Chinese white cut chicken is based on salt or soy sauce, includes ginger and scallions and is finished with oil. Yummmmmmm.
I am partial to the ginger scallion sauce which I have posted with my Simple Poached Chicken recipe but I did want to try David Chang’s (Momofuku) Ginger Scallion Sauce. His recipe has made the rounds on Epicurious, Saveur, Bon Apetit’ website, your auntie’s blog, EVERYWHERE. All wax poetically about it. Its good on everything even slathered on your skin apparently. So, I made it and it’s good alright but is it Nirvana? Hm. It is ridiculously easy and extremely versatile. It is lovely on noodles, fish, your kids if they forget their sunblock (I’M KIDDING), on grilled tofu or mushrooms (yay for vegetarians) and of course CHICKEN. It’s the perfect pairing like Fred and Ginger (my fav). Similar to the sauce for Hainan Chicken or White Cut Chicken it starts with ginger, scallions, and salt and soy sauce but unlike mine, the oil is not heated and it includes a touch of vinegar. I leave it to you to pick which is your favorite. Definitely make the chicken (it’s incredibly delicious and easy) and try the different sauces. Love to know which is your favorite.
Our trip to Vanderbilt for Family Weekend 2016 was more about hanging out with the kid and his classmates. We made it to campus only once (family weekend is really for the freshman parents, lol) and that was for Vanderbilt’s program Strong Inside: Storytelling, Music and Performance. Last year we did not attend the student show which included the Meladores (Vandy’s acapella group). So this year we assumed they would be performing at the show..wrong. I need to read the fine print more carefully next time. This year’s show featured Vandy alum and author Andrew Maraniss and his book, Strong Inside . The story of Perry Wallace, the first African American basketball player in the SEC and Vanderbilt student. His courage, resiliency and character are tested as he faced racism both individual and institutional. Like Jackie Robinson, Perry was a reluctant pioneer of the civil rights movement. Far too often non-fiction books turn into a boring litany of facts and dates, Maraniss’s writing style and Wallace’s life story runs counter to this notion. Strong Inside is a very compelling read. (Addendum: Coming Fall 2017 Documentary on Perry Wallace)
Though the Meladores did not perform, I really enjoyed the show. Student performances of dance, poetry were bookended by Mr. Maraniss reading an excerpt from Strong Inside and Vandy alum country rocker, Marshall Chapman. Ms. Chapman read from her book, Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller and sang. I am a convert to her soulful music and her life story. Growing up in the South, she tells of the first time she saw Elvis. Seven years old and sitting in the town theatre smitten by the King. Touring with icons such as Jimmy Buffet, playing in honkey tonks, Marshall’s story is brought to life in her music and words. A wonderful storyteller and an amazing musician.
Being a Californian, I never thought my kids would end up in the South for school but life is full of surprises and it has given them and me the opportunity to experience a part of America that I would never have dreamed of.
Awhile back I reviewed Food52 Mighty Salads. Flipping through the book I found quite a few recipes to try including a tomato pasta salad, a crab and corncake salad and a tomato cucumber salad with lamb kebabs. At the very end of the book, snuck in on the last page (those sneaky Food52ers) I found a single non-salad recipe.
Better yet, it is a DESSERT recipe. A tantalizing little tidbit among a sea of greens and grains. As part of their thank you page and because they couldn’t write a cookbook without a sweet finish, they came up with Berry Salad with Brioche Croutons. It is simple, yummy and the perfect ending.
….of course I had to try it.
It is STUPID EASY and delicious. Start with your favorite loaf of brioche. Cut 4 slices about 3/4 inch thick and then cut into cubes. Place in a buttered baking dish, throw in a handful of nuts, your choice. I like walnuts but feel free to use pecans or almonds or a mix of your favorite nuts. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons honey and finish with a sprinkle of sea salt or kosher salt (a little bigger sprinkle). Bake in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for 7 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Store in an airtight container.
Now you could just munch on these bad boys all by themselves, which I have been known to do, or you could throw them on top of a bowl of berries-strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, whateverberries (just checking if you are paying attention) sweetened with some raw sugar as suggested by the folks at Food52.
My favorite option is on top of plain Greek yogurt with a touch of honey and fresh berries.. It adds a nice crunch and makes my breakfast seem deliciously decadent. Its way too easy not to try.
From my weekly trip to the Farmer’s Market I once again came home with way too many strawberries…I should have bought one basket but noooo…I went bonkers and bought a HALF FLAT of strawberries. That’s 6 baskets of strawberries between the two of us.
Which means it’s JAM TIME. I pulled up the recipe for STUPID EASY JAMI posted a couple months ago, grabbed the lime instead of the lemon sitting on the counter and less than an hour later I’m spreading homemade jam on toast to go with my coffee. How easy is that? Yummos. The lime is a nice change from lemon it gives it a tropical twist.
I think the best thing about regattas and long bike rides is guilt free carb loading. There is nothing better than a pb&j sandwich. I love the saltiness of the peanut butter and the sweetness of the jam smooshed between two slices of Wonder Bread.
Even though I didn’t row or ride today, a loaf of soft white bread reminiscent of Wonder Bread, a jar of just made jam and summer’s last hurrah heat wave was the perfect excuse for a pb&j sandwich and a tall glass of ice cold milk for dinner. Nothing like starting the day with jam on buttered toast and ending it with a pb&j. Felt like a kid again.
So if you are like me and find yourself with too many strawberries. Make some jam!
I am a big fan of Ottolenghi’s cookbooks, the photos are mouthwatering and every dish I have tried has been delicious. My favorite book is Jerusalem and not just for the recipes and photos but it’s premise. Two men who grew up in opposite ends of Jerusalem, one Jewish, one Arab create wonderful food together.
In today’s America we seem so divided…we should just have a ginormous potluck where everyone brings their favorite dish to share. The rule would be bring a dish your grandmother or your grandfather made for you. Can you imagine that table? It would be filled with dishes from every corner of the world. Hard to hate on someone sharing a bowl of their grandmother’s mandu or kreplach. Mean words to a guy who hands you a plate of brisket perfectly smoked the way his dad taught him? I hope not. Food soothes the soul, heals the heart and sways the mind.
A girl can dream right?
A couple of weeks ago Ottolenghi posted a recipe in his New York Times column that looked absolutely scrumptious. A Blueberry Lemon Almond Loaf. Lucky for me I have a lemon tree in my garden (an endless supply of lemons makes me happy) and had ripe, sweet blueberries from my trip to the farmers market over the weekend.
Buttery goodness is brightened by lemon zest, with a generous amount of blueberries, and finished with a zingy lemon icing. Yep, making cake, then eating cake.
The batter comes together quickly. The addition of almond flour produces a tender crumb. The only glitch I encountered was adding a reserved portion of blueberries to the batter after 15 minutes in the oven. At this point, the top of the loaf was brown and pretty set. I ended up throwing the blueberries on top and pushing them down-with a bit of success. Next time I’d check the loaf earlier and throw the berries on a bit earlier so they sink into the batter a bit. I love lemon so I pumped up the amount of lemon zest in the cake and added some to the icing. Bake this cake it’s lemonlicious and bluerrific.
Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/200 degrees Celsius. Grease a 9- or 8-inch/21-centimeter loaf pan with butter, line it with a parchment paper sling and butter the paper. Set the pan aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and almond flour. Set aside.
Place butter, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until light, then lower speed to medium. Add eggs in three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times as necessary. The mix may split (look curdled) a little but don’t worry: It’ll come back together once you add the dry ingredients.
With the stand mixer on low, add the reserved dry ingredient mixture in three additions, mixing just until no dry specks remain. Fold in about 3/4 of the blueberries by hand, then scoop batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle the remaining blueberries over the top of the cake. Check the cake at the 10 minuteReturn to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes, until cake is golden brown but still uncooked. Cover loosely with foil and continue to cook for another 25 to 30 minutes (less for a 9-inch pan, more for an 8-inch pan), or until risen and cooked, and a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and set aside in its pan to cool for 10 minutes before removing cake from pan and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
When cake is cool, make the icing: Add lemon juice and icing sugar to a bowl and whisk together until smooth, adding a bit more juice if necessary, just until the icing moves when you tilt the bowl. Pour over the cake and gently spread out. The blueberries on the top of the cake may bleed into the icing a little, but this will add to the look.
Let icing set (about 30 minutes), slice and serve.
My Tweaks
I added another teaspoon of lemon zest to the batter and 1/2 teaspoon of zest to the icing. I ❤️ lemon
I did not use all the icing, I drizzled the icing on instead. Not a big fan of lots of icing.
